William Jud Lounsbury
Position sought: Monticello School Board
Age: 42
City/town of residence: Exeter Township (rural Monticello)
Family: I have been married to my wife, Katy, for ten years. We have four kids: Lily (9), Linden (8), June (5) and Violet (4)
Education: I went to high school in Nevada, a small town in central Iowa, and went to college at nearby Iowa State University, where I majored in Animal Ecology.
Occupation: I've spent most of my adult life in politics and public policy, including working as a press secretary for U.S. Senators Harkin and Feingold and several other organizations and politicians. Currently, I do freelance policy and political consulting work from home, am a regular contributor providing political analysis to website called Uppity Wisconsin, do a little bit of farming, and am the stay-at-home parent for our four young kids. As an example of the freelance work I do, I recently completed a lengthy report on the challenges to Wisconsin's public schools for a think tank called the Institute for One Wisconsin, which can viewed online: tinyurl.com/EducationReport.
What are the top issues facing this district and how would you work to resolve it?
I am concerned that there may be a perception out there that Monticello isn't as good as some nearby schools and that is leading to some parents open enrolling their kids out of the district. Ten years ago, 10 kids were open enrolling into Monticello and 15 were using open enrollment to leave the district. Last year there were 30 kids coming in and 55 kids going out.
By my math, that costs the district nearly $200,000 in lost state aid that we could, of course, really use. New Glarus, on the other hand, has the reverse statistics; they have a net of 26 kids coming into their district and get about $200,000 in additional state aid as a result.
What are other key issues facing the district, and how would you work to resolve them?
There is always a great deal of talk about the potential for school consolidation. I don't support consolidation - I think smaller school districts are better school districts and I think Monticello would lose a lot of its identity if we lost our school.
I am also concerned with property taxes. Under the current restrictions placed on school districts in the last budget, school districts can't increase property taxes to cover the gap caused by decreased state aid. I am supportive of permitting a referendum that would allow voters to fill in holes caused by deep cuts in state aid. I would view this as a stop-gap measure until we get some sanity restored in school funding. Along those lines, I would use my position on the school board to pressure the state legislature and governor to keep the commitment the state made years ago to ease the burden on local property tax payers by funding 2/3 of the cost of schools.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I love Monticello Schools. I think we have great teachers, great facilities and a great community and would like to do my part in helping out.
Position sought: Monticello School Board
Age: 42
City/town of residence: Exeter Township (rural Monticello)
Family: I have been married to my wife, Katy, for ten years. We have four kids: Lily (9), Linden (8), June (5) and Violet (4)
Education: I went to high school in Nevada, a small town in central Iowa, and went to college at nearby Iowa State University, where I majored in Animal Ecology.
Occupation: I've spent most of my adult life in politics and public policy, including working as a press secretary for U.S. Senators Harkin and Feingold and several other organizations and politicians. Currently, I do freelance policy and political consulting work from home, am a regular contributor providing political analysis to website called Uppity Wisconsin, do a little bit of farming, and am the stay-at-home parent for our four young kids. As an example of the freelance work I do, I recently completed a lengthy report on the challenges to Wisconsin's public schools for a think tank called the Institute for One Wisconsin, which can viewed online: tinyurl.com/EducationReport.
What are the top issues facing this district and how would you work to resolve it?
I am concerned that there may be a perception out there that Monticello isn't as good as some nearby schools and that is leading to some parents open enrolling their kids out of the district. Ten years ago, 10 kids were open enrolling into Monticello and 15 were using open enrollment to leave the district. Last year there were 30 kids coming in and 55 kids going out.
By my math, that costs the district nearly $200,000 in lost state aid that we could, of course, really use. New Glarus, on the other hand, has the reverse statistics; they have a net of 26 kids coming into their district and get about $200,000 in additional state aid as a result.
What are other key issues facing the district, and how would you work to resolve them?
There is always a great deal of talk about the potential for school consolidation. I don't support consolidation - I think smaller school districts are better school districts and I think Monticello would lose a lot of its identity if we lost our school.
I am also concerned with property taxes. Under the current restrictions placed on school districts in the last budget, school districts can't increase property taxes to cover the gap caused by decreased state aid. I am supportive of permitting a referendum that would allow voters to fill in holes caused by deep cuts in state aid. I would view this as a stop-gap measure until we get some sanity restored in school funding. Along those lines, I would use my position on the school board to pressure the state legislature and governor to keep the commitment the state made years ago to ease the burden on local property tax payers by funding 2/3 of the cost of schools.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I love Monticello Schools. I think we have great teachers, great facilities and a great community and would like to do my part in helping out.